Getting There: The ISEPTAPHILLY Blog

Seniors Ride Free

Have you heard? 65 is the new 55. You know it because you feel it. You’re just as active as you were yesterday – enjoying life and all that comes with it. And because of this SEPTA offers a program that allows you to continue your full-of-life lifestyle. It’s called the Seniors Ride Free Program and it allows you to embrace what you love to do and to do it more often.

Currently, Seniors ride free all day, every day on SEPTA buses, trolleys and subways with proper ID. On Regional Rail lines,seniors ride for just $1 within Pennsylvania. But now with the transition to the SEPTA Key comes an additional benefit for senior citizens. Starting September 1, 2018, the $1 fee for Regional Rail rides for travel within Pennsylvania will be eliminated. Discounted half-fares will remain in place for seniors traveling to-and-from New Jersey and Delaware.

SEPTA’s Senior Free Ride Program for travel on Transit is funded by the Pennsylvania Lottery.

The start of free Regional Rail rides coincides with the phase out of paper PA Senior Citizen Transit ID Cards. Effective September 1, seniors will need a SEPTA Key Senior Photo ID Card or a valid Pennsylvania Driver’s Licenses and Non-Driver IDs with a magnetic stripe on the back, which can still be swiped at turnstiles and fare boxes to receive the free Transit and Regional Rail rides. New licenses issued by PennDOT on or after July 2017 do not have magnetic stripes and cannot be used.

Most seniors who ride SEPTA have already made the switch to the SEPTA Key Senior Photo Identification Cards. Sign-ups began in late 2016, and more than 149,000 Key Senior Photo ID cards have been issued.

Seniors who have not yet signed up to get their new SEPTA Key Senior Photo ID Card can do so at the offices of many local elected officials, including state senators and representatives and Philadelphia City Council members. Registration is also available at the Transportation Management Associations (TMA) of Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties. Please allow four weeks for delivery of the card. Same-day cards are issued on weekdays at SEPTA Headquarters from 8a to 6p, and at Suburban Station’s Accessible Travel Center from 8a to 4:30p.

To receive a SEPTA Key Senior Photo ID Card, applicants must fill out an application and show one of the following forms of identification:

♦ Statement of Age Verification from the U.S. Social Security Administration

♦ Armed Forces Discharge/Separation Papers

♦ Resident Alien Card or Passport/Naturalization Papers

As many senior Regional Rail customers pre-purchase discounted 10-trip strips of tickets ($8.50/$.85 per ticket), SEPTA will provide refunds to those who have unused tickets after September 1. Refunds will be issued at the rate of $.85 per ticket. Customers can obtain a refund by mailing the original tickets along with their mailing address to: SEPTA Senior Ticket Refunds, PO Box 58609, Philadelphia, PA 19102-8609.

Requests for refunds must be mailed no later than December 31, 2018.

For more information about the SEPTA Key Senior Photo ID, click here vor call SEPTA Customer Service at (215) 580-7800.

So pencil in that fitness class. Discover a garden you’ve only read about. Take the grandkids to a museum. Or just keep on keepin’ on with that career of yours. It’s time to ride free and proud. All day. Every day.